The thrill of the horse race is a pleasure enjoyed by many. Extending all the way back to the early domestication of horses in Central Asia, horse racing is considered to be an ancient sport. Thoroughbred racing horses as we know them today came into being when Arab stallions were bred with English mares, resulting in a breed known for speed and great endurance.
Noblemen soon started betting on particular horses as favourites to win a particular race, and so the sport of betting on horse racing was born.
Horse Racing Bet Types
Various Horse Racing betting types have since been developed. The variety of bet types have certainly served to keep things interesting.
Betting on the Win
This is as easy as betting gets. Correctly guessing which horse will win (finish first in the race), will yield a payout.
Betting on the Place
Betting on the place is every bit as simple as betting on the win. When betting on the place, a prediction is made which horses will finish in first or second place. Being slightly less risky that betting on a win, the payout is generally a little lower than correctly predicting the winning horse.
Show
The show takes betting on the place one step further. When betting on the show, you’re betting that a certain horse will achieve first, second or third place in the race. The returns are obviously less than when betting on the place.
Exotic Wagers
Besides the win and placement types of bets, there is also a variety of more creative bets in horse racing. Favourites include the Exacta, the Quinella, the Trifecta and the Superfecta.
The Exacta is a combination bet – a bet is placed on the prediction of two horses to come in first and second, in a specified order. The Quinella mixes things up a bit. Now the bet is placed on two horses to come in at first and second position, but in any order.
The Trifecta is like the Exacta – only this time including three horses; again placing the three horses in the exact order in which they are expected to cross the finish line.
The Superfecta is last up, with a prediction of the exact order of four horses over the finish line.
Picking a Win
The race day program is a tool of immeasurable value when trying to determine each participant’s handicap. Race day programs contain all the statistics and recent race history for all the horses racing on that particular day.
A Matter of Class
It’s important to take note of the class that a specific horse has been racing at. Higher classes generally include horses known to perform better. Horses move up and down through the various classes, depending on their performance as they go along through the race events each year. A sudden change in class may indicate a stroke of luck, and would therefore not automatically be the best horse to place a large wager on. A horse suddenly moved on up may also not be completely up for the job of racing against horses of a higher class.